That superficial report would seem to indicate something of the state of the world. But not everyone is concerned. Obama’s off at Camp David for a birthday bash with friends. And also reported is that the Army is going to tell 550 Army majors will be out of the service by next spring as “part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.” That follows 1.000 captains pink-slipped, 48 of them while they were serving in Iran.

Those of flag rank were discharged earlier.

Wasn’t Mr. Obama just urging some of the ‘children’ crossing the border to serve in the military so they can become citizens? Is it written somewhere that cutting the budget has to come out of military readiness? How about cutting back on the full-entourage family trips to Africa? Or some of the excess numbers of Czars? I can think of whole departments that should go.

An independent panel appointed by the Pentagon and Congress has warned in their report just issued that “President Obama’s strategy for sizing the armed services is too weak for today’s global threats.” The shrinking U.S. armed forces, the report acknowledged, is a “serious strategic misstep on the part of the United States,” “Inadequate given the future strategic and operational environment.”

“Not only have they caused significant investment shortfalls in U.S. military readiness and both present and future capabilities, they have prompted our current and potential allies and adversaries to question our commitment and resolve,” the report said. “Unless reversed, these shortfalls will lead to a high-risk force in the near future. That in turn will lead to an America that is not only less secure but also far less prosperous. In this sense, these cuts are ultimately self-defeating.”

The panel knocks Mr. Obama’s QDR for reducing the military’s global mission from being able to defeat two enemies nearly simultaneously to defeating one and denying the objectives of a second. The report calls on Mr. Obama to expand this overriding mission statement.